Stetson Provence and Ian Ansett had to go beyond what they usually did Sunday afternoon during the finals of the 74th Annual Budweiser Partnership at the Ross Rogers Golf Complex Mustang Course.
In the end, though, they ended up doing what they’d done the previous two days, ending things early.
Provence and Ansett were dominant in their 36-hole title match against Luke Kane and Tate Allred. The duo took a big lead over the first 18 holes, then ended things early when Provence sank a birdie putt on No. 13 (the 31st hole of the day) to clinch the championship by a very comfortable 11 and 10 margin.
There were still five holes to play in the match play format when Provence and Ansett clinched the title with yet another fairly easy win. They had a 1-up advantage over Kane and Allred after the first 12 holes, but they caught fire the rest of the way and by the end of 18 holes, they had a 7-up advantage, giving them plenty of margin for error over the final 18.
Provence and Ansett were 11-up with 16 holes left and 32 points available and the final result seemed like a mere formality. However, Kane birdied No. 3, and by the sixth hole, he and Allred had whittled the margin down to 6-up.
That was as close as the match got on the final 18 though. Ansett’s two big putts to win those first two holes gave him and Provence room to play with the rest of the play, as they just had to avoid a string of disastrous holes the rest of the way.
“We wanted to finish this off a lot sooner,” Ansett said. “Luke and Tate played great. We closed all our matches at 14, but it was nice to close this one out before then.”
Provence and Ansett reached the final by rolling over Jud Hightower and Casey Weiss 10 and 8 in Saturday’s semifinals. Earlier Saturday, they beat Drew Baccus and Zack Norrell 9 and 8.
Friday, Provence and Ansett opened with a convincing 11 and 8 win over Cody Whipple and Jorey Knutson, establishing their dominance from the outset.
“We played good on the back nine and got that comfortable lead,” Provence said. “On the next 18, Ian made a nice birdie putt on the first hole and a really nice eagle on two. We kind of got a little relaxed and gave a few back but now we’re here.”
Ansett made two big putts to start the second 18, before Provence could get anything to drop on the green Sunday. That made a statement about what to expect the rest of the way.
“Luke and Tate are a real force and you’ve just got to take it where you can,” Ansett said. “They were prime opportunities and we got it done. We had chances after that where we didn’t get it done. Fortunately it was good enough.”
When Provence made a birdie putt on No. 8, that boosted the duo’s margin back to 9-up.
Provence then opened the back nine with a birdie to get the margin back to 11-up, and Kane and Allred simply didn’t have enough holes to even the score.
Kane and Allred got a point on each of the next two holes, but when Provence made a short birdie putt on No. 13 and Allred missed a par putt, it clinched the match mathematically for him and Ansett.
Ansett got things going, but by the end, Provence had pulled his weight and proved it a true partnership.
“From a partnership standpoint I’m not worried too much about what one or the other is doing,” Provence said, “Those two holes where Ian made birdie and eagle obviously felt really good for him but it really didn’t effect me much as it was two points for us. It gives more momentum to the partner as well.”
Ansett approached it the same way.
“We talked about just playing our own game and playing like it was just a Sunday with each other,” Ansett said. “You stop worrying about what your partner is doing.”
Check out the results:
For a complete look at the results from the 74th Budweiser Partnership, please visit https://rrgc-74thannualbudweiserpartnership.golfgenius.com/pages/12872591677969181935
Photo gallery by Roy Wheeler:
